Ahmedabad: Even before the second phase of voting in the 7-phase Lok Sabha elections across the country is to be held on Apr. 26, the BJP has opened its account in the LS polls by bagging the Surat seat in Gujarat,with the party candidate Mukesh Dalal being declared elected unopposed on Monday.

A total of 24 candidates had filed their nomination papers for the Surat LS seat in Gujarat. Subsequently, the nomination papers of the Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani as well as  his substitute  were rejected  over discrepancies in the signatures of their proposers.

Also, the nominations of 10 others were also rejected as they were not found in order. Besides, eight nominations were withdrawn before the deadline,  that resulted in Mukesh Dalal of the BJP, the lone candidate to remain in the fray. Subsequently, Dalal was declared elected unopposed, thus creating a record of sorts in the LS poll history.

Reacting to the opening of the account, Gujarat BJP President C.R. Patil said Surat has offered the first lotus to PM Narendra Modi.

The 7-Phase LS polls will conclude on Jun.1 and the counting of votes of all the 542 other LS seats across the country will be taken up on June 4.